A Match of Two Managers - Cardiff 3-3 West Ham

Submitted by Louis Nixon on

Scott Parker made his first appearance in the dugout for West Ham United yesterday, and he had a telling story over 90 minutes.

Parker spoke after the match explaining that his impact was minimal heading into the match, mentioning that he met the squad for the first time at the airport, but he was certainly looking forward to today’s post-match debrief.

The first half was dreadful and the substitutes made a significant impact in the second spell as did the tactical decisions that were made, such as placing Bowen into the middle of the park, allowing him to play passes over the top, which subsequently led to all three of our goals.

With the introduction of Ezra Mayers at the break, West Ham might’ve witnessed the end of Morato playing in the left-back role. As for Soungatou Magassa, he is someone Parker is a big fan of, but of course, the Frenchman isn’t entirely match fit, and it’s suspected that will grow over time.

Whilst it is simply words over actions at the moment, one vital quote from Parker’s press conference was: “There were a lot of backwards passes, and the goalkeeper had a lot of touches.”

A clear statement on what Nuno had ingrained into the squad, which Parker isn’t pleased about even as a fellow defensive-minded coach.

At the break, Parker and Mark Noble berated the room, which Arne Engels alluded to in his post-match interview, and it ultimately proved to be the difference coming into the second spell where the mentality seemed to have been changed as were the tactics.

Whilst Parker still has to implement his style, most importantly, he has to fix a broken mentality and create unity in the dressing room and behind the scenes. It’s a tough ask, but having staff who know West Ham certainly does help in this moment.

boogerscaravan

Thu, 5 Nov 2026 - 11:19

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Exactly Louis having a model in place who know the club inside out. The pitch, the training ground and the dressing room. Is tantamount at present and going forward.

Engles was told you are a 23 million pound player, now go out there and start playing like one, for one thing. Well that certainly worked. Some players will not feature from the start against Blackburn. Namely Hermansen, Taty whose mentality and attitude frankly stink in my opinion. Plus Morato. Soloman will probably find himself on the bench too. Magassa understandably ring rusty.

Kante, Mayers, Asbo, Piroe should come in. There input was massive yesterday. Areola also. A couple of days on the training ground will work wonders. Having Noble more hands on will also be a massive help.

Good things to come I hope.

It would be very interesting to know if Scotty actually picked the starting 11? He doesn't really know the squad and was probably heavily influenced by those around him. He must have been watching keenly the games before becoming manager.

I suspect that come HT he decided on the changes making it clear that a more advancing attitude was required, getting the ball forward quicker and much less passing back or as I like to call it "Going up and down the Horse Shoe" without actually involving the centre midfield or strikers.

I think we have reason to be optimistic / positive. I like the why he articulated the game in the post match interview.

And Parker an ex pro will no whats what and nobody will be able to kid him along.
We have players that can make a difference and it will be interesting in the next few weeks to see who was out of favour and back in the squad because midfield wise we have plenty of options.
As for up front i would Bin Taty his attitude stinks and he should be benched or even dropped and his agent told get him another club and bring Ajala into the first team......As for Hermy ffs get shot of him as well put Areola in and promote young Herrick onto the bench...if possible send Morato back to Forest as Golambekis is more than good enough in this division.
Of course what i'd like would not be seen as practical and it will be difficult for Parker/Noble to shake the defensive mindset that has been drilled into the players these past few seasons but i am sure they can turn this ship around but a lot of hard graft ahead.